Sunday, February 5, 2017

Super Bowl LI


Today many people around the world will watch our American football Super Bowl.

 According to Wikipedia:
Super Bowl LI will be the 51st Super Bowl and the 47th modern-era National Football League (NFL) championship game. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots will play the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlanta Falcons to decide the league champion for the 2016 season.
The game will be played in Houston, TX., where much controversy over the location still exists.  It seems there was a proposition voted on by the people of Houston that didn't or wouldn't allow discrimination against anyone due to their sexual orientation or sexual identification in housing, employment, city contracting jobs, and public accommodations. 

The "good" people of Houston voted the proposition down, yet the NFL still decided to hold the game in the stadium AND city that discriminates.  Is this NOT the 21st century, people?  I'm still waiting for race, religion, and creed to be added to that list of discriminations.  My country is SHAMEFUL at times.  But for now, let's focus on the game.

The cost of tickets to see the game in person is staggering.  The least expensive tickets are running $3,500. A ticket along the 50-yard line will cost $10,000.

That doesn't include the cost of airfare, taxis to and from the airport and game, food, and hotel.  That's a lot of cash to see a single football game and watch Lady Gaga live at halftime.

Then there's the cost that advertisers pay for showing their product worldwide.  This year, as in Super Bowl 50, the cost is $5,000,000.00 (five million US dollars) for a 30 second ad slot.  Here are a few from last year:

This is Lil Wayne advertising Apartments.com in a commercial called "Movin' On Up."

Axe's ad was called "Find Your Magic."  I don't remember the commercial, but if it had kittens in it, it was OK by me.

Then there's the grand dame, Helen Mirren in a Budweiser commercial called "Give a Damn."

So set your VCRs if you are old school like me, or your DVRs, and plan to watch this game show today.  I know I'll be watching for the commercials, and maybe even Lady Gaga.

15 thoughtful remarks:

Sami said...

Incredible the price of the tickets!! Wow, how can anyone afford to watch a game? One would think with the money they get from the adverts alone would enable them to sell their tickets much, much cheaper!
I love the adverts that they show at the Superbowl, they are always great.
Enjoy the game Elizabeth!

Valerie-Jael said...

I would never even think of paying that much money for a ticket! Shame on those who are discriminating race and religion, that's bad. But I did hear a judge had thrown out Trumps 90 day embargo on letting Muslims into the country, that is a brave man. Enjoy your super bowl, have a fun evening, hugs, Valerie

chrissie said...

Ticket prices at sporting events have just gone mad though the Superbowl is one of the great events of year for many. I expect they get lots of money from television companies and advertising as well. I hope you enjoy it. We used to watch it when I first met Vic but it was more for him than me. Must mention it to him and see what he says about watching it again.

Great post Elizabeth and great pics/stories as always

Love Chrissie xx

froebelsternchen said...

Oh - that's expensive ...
o.k.
people will pay that if they want to see it live!
Enjoy the Superbowl Elizabeth!
oxo Susi

Meggymay said...

I am sitting with a cuppa and enjoying a catch up of the posts I have missed, as always you have so many interesting things to share with us.
I had to write on this one as the price of the entry tickets are so expensive, how folk can justify paying that much is incomprehensible to me.
I just hope nothing else in their lives suffers for the amounts paid out.
I hope you enjoyed the game.
Have a good Sunday.
Yvonne xx.
p.s.
Thank you for your kind messages on my blog, they mean a lot to me.

Jeanie said...

Super Bowl isn't much my thing so I'll be watching Victoria and Secrets of Henry VIII's Six Wives tonight on PBS. But I do enjoy some of the commercials. There was an interesting piece on telly or NPR about if the commercial results balance out after the high cost. The consensus was that if you are new and appeal to a wide range of people, it can be beneficial. But not always. Locktite put their entire advertising budget into last year's with no measurable results. I think probably the best return is on the controversial or extremely clever commercial that gets seen out of context on morning shows or news. I'm always intrigued by those. The department I used to work in had a SB Commercial party every year where students/faculty evaluated commercials. Fun.

On the Rails to Trails path -- it took years for them to get the go-ahead. Some spots were easy, others -- where the path was going to go near people's homes (especially in the country) the efforts took a long time. Not in my back yard. It was good for the community's economy, bringing in people who liked to ride. Good for cycling shops and restaurants. So, I hope it just goes back for more study and comes up again, maybe with new people.

Cindy McMath said...

Have fun watching the game today Elizabeth - I am not a football fan. Most Canadians will be glued to the set today, even though we do have our own version (the Canadian Football League Grey Cup). I'll be attending an art class with a friend, which should be lots of fun. Thanks for your visit to my blog - I wanted to mention two things. First, my lanterns were stamped, not hand drawn (although I did outline them by hand as my ink got a bit covered up by the acrylic background). Also I think the reason you found my comments closed is that I actually pay a small annual fee for my Typepad account - I had to update my payment address with them to allow my payment to complete so my account was temporarily suspended. It should be all good now!

Sandra Cox said...

Good grief! That's terrible. I had no idea the tickets were that expensive...and I should have. I believe everyone is entitled to a comfortable life (and the idea of comfort varies from individual to individual) but so many in our country and probably all over the world concentrate on the dollar and that's where it starts and ends.
Okay, jumping off my soap box.
Another great post, Elizabeth.
Enjoy the game.
Hugs,

Divers and Sundry said...

I'm sure it'll be on here, but I'll only have eyes for the commercials, the half-time show (can anything top Prince?), and the ball-deflating jokes ;)

pearshapedcrafting said...

Years ago my middle son was keen on anything the Dallas Cowboys did but also enjoyed watching American Football so I used to record it for him and then watch it with him of course! I wish we got some of those ads -our best ads are the Christmas ones where stars seem to queue up to be in them! I know that the cost of tickets for Soccer games has gone up here and it's years since we went to a touring show! I think Kylie was my last one and that was a Birthday treat from my youngest! Off for a catch up now! Enjoy the game and time with friends! Hugs, Chrisx

My name is Erika. said...

I didn't know about the controversial vote in Houston. But I did know about the ridiculous costs of tickets. Absolutely outrageous. And needless. In reality thy could still make a fortune from the adds and selling tickets at normal (which is still ridiculously expensive) prices. However, I know so many people don't like the Pats, but here there are billboards and signs everywhere wising the Pats good luck. This is a big deal, and it comes down to getting back at the NFL president Goodell for throwing Brady out for the first month of the season. I am sure most the country has no sympathy, but tonight when you watch with your friends you can be up on what us New Englanders are thinking. Or at least football fans. I really hope there's some good commercials and my friend who's house we are going too doesn't drink too much wine, which she sometimes does. Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Hugs-Erika

Stephanie Faris said...

The first commercial was a Coke commercial that celebrated American diversity. Some redneck I went to h.s. with criticized Coke for it, doing the whole, "You're in America--speak English" thing. I hate that these idiots now feel empowered to say racist things.

Birgit said...

If the place is packed, that tells me how much money people are willing to spend on something I could care less about. I always find it amazing how people are glued to watch something that is ripping people off...the cost is crazy. I will watch the half time tomorrow and see it on tv and the ads as well.

CJ Kennedy said...

I'll run in and out to check on the score. Championship games like this are too intense for me to watch all the way through. Make me puffy like an agitated kitty. Go Pats!

sheila 77 said...

Oh so the Super bowl is about American football, now I know.
Adverts with kittens or Helen Mirren, love them.
Ticket prices seem excessive but I suppose if that is your thing to go, one can have one's thing if one can afford it.